Message from our CEO

Children are at the heart of everything we do. Every dollar granted for cancer research, every event, every partnership and every resource provided is intended to create a bright and healthy future for our most precious people— our kids.

In the last 20 years, only four cancer treatments have been developed and approved specifically for children. That is why we have made it our number one priority to expedite novel therapies out of the lab and into the clinic and marketplace to the children, parents and families who are counting on us.

As part of our commitment to expediting treatments, we are proud to announce our first-ever Catapult Award grant recipient. With this nearly $1 million grant, a cutting-edge study will be executed—one that may significantly improve long-term survival rates and reduce toxicity in pediatric glioma patients. This grant, along with our other research programs, funds the most promising therapies—those that are engineered for future approval and commercialization.

With your support, we continue to fund impactful research, provide resources to families and convene the partnerships needed to give every child diagnosed with cancer the chance to lead a long, healthy life. Thank you for helping us to advance childhood cancer treatments and cures.

Sincerely,
Kay KoehlerCEO, CureSearch for Children's Cancer

Meet Kay Koehler, CureSearch CEO

In February 2018, the CureSearch Board of Directors named Kay Koehler as the new CEO of CureSearch. Previously serving as Chief Development Officer, Koehler has been a critical part of the CureSearch management team, responsible for the leadership of CureSearch’s donor relations, fundraising and marketing and communications efforts, and effecting sweeping changes to position the organization for success. She has more than 25 years of executive management experience in both for-profit and non-profit organizations.

CureSearch Research Strategy Updates

Bringing New Treatments to Market

In the last six months, we announced large-scale grants for ground-breaking children’s cancer research. Our research strategy continues to encompass the most promising projects with one end goal in mind: getting new, less-toxic treatments to the children who need it most.

Young Investigators Research Program

In July, CureSearch announced Dr. Loretta Li of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Dr. Avery Posey of the University of Pennsylvania as 2018 Young Investigator award recipients. They were collectively awarded $450,000 over three years.

Our Young Investigator program encourages promising scientists to stay in the field by providing significant financial support to investigators early in their research career. Young Investigator Awards fund high-potential research engineered for future drug development and commercialization.

Acceleration Initiative Impact as of July 2018

CureSearch’s Cumulative Impact

Together, we are catapulting cures through the research pipeline, into clinical trials and to drug development where they will ultimately reach kids.

Our impact is measured by the progress we’ve made to advance clinical trials and treatments. See our progress by the numbers:

CureSearch Convenes Top Leaders at Catapult Summit

In May, CureSearch hosted the third annual Catapult Summit at MIT, convening top leaders in research, academia, venture capital, business and international partners. This flagship Summit identifies and addresses the barriers that exisit in pediatric cancer research and drug development. CureSearch is dedicated to creating the partnerships and ecosystem needed to drive better, less-toxic treatments for children’s cancer.

2018 CureSearch Fundraising Campaigns

As of July 2018:

This spring, our Foothills and Canaan Mountain Backcountry hikers raised over $240,000 to kick off our 2018 Ultimate Hike program. Join us this year for one of our upcoming hikes on the country’s most beautiful trails.

2018 Superheroes Unite! walks are happening across the country, with Omaha and southwest Michigan kicking things off in June. Learn more about an upcoming walk near you and form a team, become a sponsor or volunteer to help at these family-friendly community events.

Our supporters continue to find creative ways to “go gold” for children’s cancer with our CureSearch DIY Gold program, which has raised more than $50,000 to date in 2018. Our largest Gold event is the annual Advantage Hair Salon BBQ and Auction, held near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, which raised more than $20,000. Learn more about ways to go gold for children's cancer.

Your Resources

Millions of people have connected with CureSearch for instantly available resources, tools and information about children’s cancer. Included in these are: